Franklin Universal Trust (FT) Competitors

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) and Franklin Universal Trust (NYSE:FT) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is CGBD or FT more profitable?

Carlyle Secured Lending has a net margin of 32.72% compared to Franklin Universal Trust's net margin of 0.00%. Carlyle Secured Lending's return on equity of 10.49% beat Franklin Universal Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Carlyle Secured Lending	32.72%	10.49%	4.88%
Franklin Universal Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A

Does the media favor CGBD or FT?

In the previous week, Carlyle Secured Lending had 2 more articles in the media than Franklin Universal Trust. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for Carlyle Secured Lending and 1 mentions for Franklin Universal Trust. Carlyle Secured Lending's average media sentiment score of 0.80 beat Franklin Universal Trust's score of 0.51 indicating that Carlyle Secured Lending is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Carlyle Secured Lending	0 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Franklin Universal Trust	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, CGBD or FT?

Carlyle Secured Lending has higher revenue and earnings than Franklin Universal Trust.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Carlyle Secured Lending	$232.59M	3.05	$88.98M	$1.35	10.31
Franklin Universal Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Is CGBD or FT a better dividend stock?

Carlyle Secured Lending pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.5%. Franklin Universal Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Carlyle Secured Lending pays out 118.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do analysts rate CGBD or FT?

Carlyle Secured Lending currently has a consensus target price of $14.75, suggesting a potential upside of 5.92%. Given Carlyle Secured Lending's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Carlyle Secured Lending is more favorable than Franklin Universal Trust.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Carlyle Secured Lending	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.60
Franklin Universal Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has more volatility and risk, CGBD or FT?

Carlyle Secured Lending has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Franklin Universal Trust has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in CGBD or FT?

24.5% of Carlyle Secured Lending shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Carlyle Secured Lending shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of Franklin Universal Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Carlyle Secured Lending beats Franklin Universal Trust on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.